How long do leftovers last?

• Leftover chicken recipes

  Transform leftover chicken instead of reheating last night’s plate. Safety box on that post now points here for the clock.

• Meals from ingredients you already have

  The Dietrack product loop: cook from stock. Not a public recipe generator on this URL.

• Fridge inventory

  The app ranks leftovers first. That tighter in-app window is priority, not a substitute for FSIS or FSA numbers.

• Household food waste calculator

  Money and kilograms, not leftover days. Duration stays on this URL.

Eat-me-first shelf layout lives on fridge organisation for less waste. Waste habits: seven household food-waste fixes. Product hub: food waste reduction app.

1. Country first. US leftover days never silently apply to a UK visitor, and UK rice 24 hours never silently applies to a US leftover.
2. Situation second. Cooked leftover, cooked rice, pack date, opened pack, or a small US raw-fridge category. No free-text food search.
3. Dates are calendar days (YYYY-MM-DD). Cook day is day 0. US leftover last day is day 4. UK leftover last day is day 2 (cooked Monday → eat by Wednesday). UK rice without a time: same calendar day only.
4. Status chips are prioritisation derived from those published windows. They are not laboratory pass/fail badges.
5. Unknown date: show the rule, hide the chip. Future date: error. Sat out too long: throw out, no remaining-day math.
6. No FoodKeeper JSON. No Q10. No backend. Arithmetic runs in this page from the versioned module lib/leftover-storage-clock.ts.

How long do leftovers last in the fridge?

In the United States, cooked leftovers last 3–4 days in the fridge at or below 40°F / 4°C (USDA FSIS). In the UK, leftover advice is typically within 2 days (Food Standards Scotland). Cooked rice in the UK is 24 hours. These are published windows, not a lab test of your container.

How long does cooked chicken last in the fridge?

Treat leftover cooked chicken as leftover food: 3–4 days in the US (FSIS), typically within 2 days in the UK. Raw chicken in the US fridge is a different row (1–2 days on the FoodSafety.gov chart). Enter the cook date above. Then see leftover chicken recipes at /blog/leftover-chicken-recipes.

How long does cooked rice last?

In the UK, cooked rice should be chilled quickly (ideally within an hour) and eaten within 24 hours; reheat only once until steaming hot (GOV.UK). In the US, cooked rice is treated as leftover food under the FSIS 3–4 day leftover window. Those rules conflict. Pick your country in the clock. Do not apply USDA leftover days to UK rice.

Can you freeze leftovers?

Yes, freeze them inside the leftover window. USDA FSIS: frozen leftovers stay safe if kept frozen; quality is best within about 3–4 months. After a fridge thaw in the US, leftovers go back on a 3–4 day clock. Food Standards Scotland: use food within 1 to 2 days after it has been defrosted. GOV.UK’s 24-hour after-defrost rule is for use-by foods you froze on or before that date. That is a different clock from leftover defrost. Freezing after the leftover window does not make food that should have been thrown out into something to keep.

Are leftovers good after 5 days?

Not under published leftover guidance. Five days is past the USDA 3–4 day leftover window and past typical UK leftover advice. Throw them out. Do not taste-test for safety.

What does use-by mean versus best before?

In the UK, use-by is a safety date; best before is a quality date (GOV.UK). In the US, most pack dates including “use by” are quality dates except infant formula (USDA FSIS). Cooked leftovers use the leftover clock, not the pack stamp. Do not sniff-test a UK use-by food.